Francis Wayland

Wayland, Francis, 1796–1865, American clergyman and educator, b. New York City, grad. Union College, 1813, and studied at Andover Theological Seminary. As pastor (1821–26) of the First Baptist Church, Boston, he became known for his able preaching. After a brief professorship at Union College, he was president (1827–55) of Brown. He enlarged the scope of the institution through a vigorous program of reforms and was a pioneer in progressive ideas in higher education, such as flexible entrance requirements and elective systems. His founding of a free library at Wayland, Mass., inspired legislation that empowered towns to support public libraries by taxation. After retirement he gave his attention to benevolent works, notably prison reform. His many books include Elements of Moral Science (1835), Elements of Political Economy (1837), and Elements of Intellectual Philosophy (1854). His son Francis Wayland, 1826–1904, b. Boston, grad. Brown, 1846, studied at Harvard law school and was (1873–1903) dean of the Yale law school. A graduate course in law, the first of its kind in America, was established under his auspices.

See biography of the father by the son (2 vol., 1867); study by T. R. Crane (1962).